Be Careful What You Wish For
by scifislasher
Summary: [Hurricanger] Uninterrupted sleep is hard to come by and sometimes you should be careful what you wish for. YousukeIkkou


Be Careful What You Wish For

As the knee jerked at his back, Shiina Yousuke groaned and contemplated whacking his bedmate with his pillow. He just wanted sleep, sleep uninterrupted by knees in his back or elbows in his stomach or hands flailing in his face, was that really too much to ask? He regretted the petulant thought almost instantly, Ikkou wasn't keeping him awake on purpose after all, it wasn't as if the other man could control his dreams. It was just… it seemed to be happening a lot lately and Yousuke found his temper deteriorated the less sleep he got. If he wasn't careful he was going to end up as moody as Ikkou was, even on his good days, and that was not a good thing. Nanami and Kouta had been commenting on his slowly unravelling temper and that was just making everything worse. All he needed now was for either sensei or Oboro-san to comment on it and he'd snap.

He didn't know what was causing Ikkou's restlessness at night and he really wished he did. It wasn't so bad during the day, not when they were both awake and Ikkou was just Ikkou: moody, intelligent and wickedly sardonic, always in control. Not so much at night though, when sleep broke down the walls the other man kept around himself, letting in the demons that haunted his dreams. He just wished he knew what the dreams were about. Maybe if he knew that he could help. Maybe if he knew he'd get some sleep.

Unfortunately it didn't seem as if sleep was on the horizon tonight and he was seriously contemplating sleeping on the floor, that way Ikkou could toss and turn all he wanted and Yousuke could get some undisturbed sleep. He regretfully dismissed the thought in the end, the night was too cold to do without bedcovers and just because he'd been taught to ignore temperature as part of his ninja training, it didn't mean he had to right now. As if to emphasise the thought he pulled the sheets closer around him, wincing at the elbow jerking sharply into his side.

Muttering curses under his breath Yousuke shuffled over to the edge of the bed, well, as close to the edge as was possible while still remaining on the mattress anyway. Maybe… Ikkou's hand bumped against his shoulder and Yousuke sat up, right on the verge of yelling in frustration. He just about manage to stop himself in time, smothering the sound before it could escape. He'd learned the hard way about what happened when Kasumi Ikkou was woken suddenly and he had no desire to have his oxygen supply cut off again.

He flinched as that particular memory replayed itself in his mind, even now six months on. As was the case tonight, Ikkou had been caught up in a dream, one that had woken Yousuke from a very pleasant dream of his own and he'd made the mistake of shaking the other man to wake him. Bad idea. Dark eyes had snapped open and before Yousuke had even had the chance to take a breath, he was flat on his back with Ikkou's knee in his stomach and an arm across his throat, cold eyes boring into him before recognition had dawned and he was released sharply, Ikkou tumbling backwards off the bed, expression a mix of guilt and horror. It had taken some persuading to get him back into bed and despite himself it had taken a while for Yousuke to feel comfortable in bed with him again. Ikkou trying to kill him wasn't a new thing, but that had been before, back when he and Isshu had been working with Jakanja, and it had caught him completely off guard when it had happened this time.

In all fairness he only had himself to blame for the incident. He'd forgotten how much of Ikkou's life had been taken up with attacking first, don't bother with questions later; had forgotten that he and Isshu had been raised to despise the others around them; had forgotten that even now Ikkou's first reaction was to lash out if threatened. All of these things were important and his momentary lapse had almost cost him dearly. It wasn't a mistake he planned on making again.

_"Isshu."_

The word was faint, barely audible and could easily have been mistaken for a sigh if Yousuke hadn't known better. He sighed to himself, unease settling in his stomach. Now he thought he knew what Ikkou was dreaming about and he wished he didn't. He reached out gently and ran his hand down the nearest arm in a soothing gesture. "Isshu's fine, Ikkou," he said quietly. "He's alright. You both are."

The island, it had to be that damned island; the one where Ikkou had willingly thrown himself in madness so that Isshu would kill him, preventing him from having to kill his younger brother in their quest to complete their father's mission. Yousuke's jaw hardened, but he kept his touch light, soothing, not wanting to wake his sleeping lover if he could help it, ignoring the clammy skin and combing his fingers through sweat-spiked black hair. He didn't know how anyone could put their children through the things Ikkou and Isshu had endured and still call themselves a father, not when the man had known all along that one son would have to kill the other in order for the prophecy to be complete. As far as he was concerned the man didn't deserve the title 'father', but that was a view he kept to himself. No use opening up old scars, not when they had only recently begun to heal. At least, that's what he'd thought before. Now he wasn't so sure.

Under his careful ministrations Ikkou finally began to ease, his body relaxing, his expression smoothening into something more peaceful, more restful. Yousuke didn't believe for a moment that this was it, that everything would be over now, but hopefully it was over for tonight. Tomorrow was another day, and he would face it when it came, but for now he was going back to sleep. Arm slung across Ikkou's stomach, Yousuke buried his head in his pillow and waited for oblivion.


End file.
